A Tear In The Fabric
by Eternally Seventeen
Summary: Atlast, he realised why it seemed so wrong. "Because I don't love you." Everyone made mistakes - his was as irreversible as a tear in the fabric, an error he would spend just about forever repenting. Full summary inside. Oneshot - Edward x Tanya


**A/N: I was re-reading Breaking Dawn for perhaps the billionth time, when this idea came from no where and hit me like a tonne of bricks. I would really love to know what you think of my experimental piece! Happy Reading :)**

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**A Tear in the Fabric**

**Summary: **Everyone made mistakes. But his was as irreversible as a tear in the fabric, an error he would spend just about forever repenting - for in that moment of passion, he had forgotten that he never had loved her, and never would. Oneshot, rated T for reasons you shall realise when you read the fic!

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The Alaskan roads were deathly still, save for the whisper of snowflakes as they gently floated towards the ground, carpeting the already white ground. The only vision for miles around the deserted, silent surroundings were three cars moving in unison with speeds that, had a police been in sight, would have landed them with penalties high enough to break the bank. Not that it would have very much harmed the occupants of the silver Volvo, cherry-red Mercedes convertible and the midnight black Mercedes.

The Cullens were on their way to Denali, paying a visit to their Alaskan _cousins._ The sisters Tanya, Kate and Irina along with their guardian-of-sorts Carmen and Eleazar lived in a palatial mansion a few kilometres north of the Denali Wildlife Sanctuary, which served as the coven's hunting grounds. One of them was especially awaiting the Cullens' visit - and she had only one reason dancing about her mind as she sped around her home, aiming to beautify the already impressive place before their arrival. Tanya had been smitten with Edward, with his charming good looks, extremely well-mannered behaviour and charming persona a long time back - and this time she intended to let him know.

Tanya, with strawberry blonde curls framing a wide, beautiful face, glowing amber eyes and slim frame had in the past been successful with getting anyone she wanted to be completely enraptured with her in a matter of minutes. Edward Cullen, however, had shown complete immunity to her charm and regarded her as nothing more than an old friend with whom he interacted interestedly perhaps once in a decade or so.

The Cullens still had a few kilometres to go before they reached the Denali's mansion. With Emmett and Rosalie in her Mercedes and Alice and Jasper having borrowed Carlisle's Mercedes, Edward drove his silver Volvo with Carlisle and Esme occupying the back seat.

"Do we take a left here, Carlisle?" Edward queried. There was a fork in the road, and Edward had questioned Carlisle not because he didn't remember; on the contrary, vampires had excellent memories. No, it was because he had never been to the Denali's place, always having met them either at the Cullens' place or elsewhere. He was also quite bored of sitting still and driving, and the question opened up a flow of conversation which Edward greatly welcomed after the long (albeit pleasant) silence.

"Yes, Edward. Please signal to Rosalie to follow us and not take on alternate routes - she enjoys playing around these areas, and the snow rather excites her, I feel." Edward rolled his eyes at the mention of his sister, looking into the rear-view mirror to see her in perfect alignment with his car, her lips curved into a superior smirk. He knew she must have heard Carlisle - there was no other way she would actually follow his lead.

_Ha Ha, Edward. Don't worry, we won't play too much today._ He heard Rosalie's thoughts and looked behind again, ignoring Rose totally and instead grinning at his big brother, Emmett, who flashed a grin back at him. He stuck his thumb up at Emmett and made a face at Rose, who pretended not to notice. Emmett winked.

"What have you got against Edward, Rose?"

"Exactly what he holds against me, Emmett. Please don't bring up Edward again." Rosalie was annoyed. Edward, who had heard it all, chuckled. Interesting girl, Rosalie was.

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Interrogating the narrow, icy paths had been a breeze, and the Cullens found themselves at the entrance to the mansion. After parking their cars followed by a friendly banter between Emmett and Alice, who had playfully insisted that she had seen Emmett wrecking Rosalie's car in the near future, Carlisle proceeded to ring the bell announcing their arrival to the Denali clan.

It didn't even take them half a second to get the door open. Tanya stood by the entrance, golden eyes glittering with delicious anticipation.

"Welcome Home," she said warmly, a bright smile upon her face. Carlisle smiled back and shook her hand.

"Thank you, Tanya. Where are the others?"

"Come in, all of you. My family awaits you in the living room."

The Cullens entered one by one, each conversing genially with Tanya, who had a restless look in her eyes. Edward could read the thoughts crashing around her head, and they all centred around one person - him.

Moving slowly - too slowly, it seemed to Tanya - Edward was in front of her, his eyes wary.

"Hello, Edward. How have you been doing?" Her smile blossomed even more when her eyes met his.

"I have been doing good, thank you," he replied, extending a graceful arm out for Tanya to take - out of mere courtesy. Tanya ignored his outstretched arm and instead engulfed Edward in a hug that suggested more than just friendship. With dazzling speed, Edward returned the hug half-heartedly and was out of her arms in a flash. Tanya's smile vanished, instead sticking her peach glittery lips forward in a pout.

"It almost seems like you don't want to be near me, Edward." Her tone was light and teasing, but Edward could only too well sense the disappointment she felt from within.

"No hard feelings, Tanya, none at all. Shall we join the rest of your family, or do you plan to keep me captive at the entrance for the next two days?" His eyes twinkled and he grinned companionably at her.

_I would very much like to keep him captive elsewhere,_ Tanya thought, but didn't voice her thoughts. Remembering only too late Edward's ability to read minds, she gave him a quick, alarmed look, hoping against hope that he hadn't heard her thoughts.

Relief flooded her when she noticed Edward embracing Carmen and Eleazar warmly, and exchanging pleasantries with Kate and Irina. _He definitely would not have heard her if he had been engaged with them._

She studied him as he smiled appreciatively at the living room decor. The large hall had been furnished with plush yet elegant sofas upholstered with genuine leather dyed jet-black. The sofas were arranged semi circularly, and a glass centre-table sat facing the concave of the sofas. Two porcelain vases adorned the table holding with a floral bouquet containing a mixture of red roses, daisies and freesia. Alice caught his eye and winked. She knew that Edward found red roses irresistible to look at.

Meanwhile, Tanya went to join her sisters and sat on one of the plush leather sofas that sat in the large living room, directly across Edward. She looked at the way Edward seemed mesmerised with the red roses on the table. Her eyes seemed to be sending him messages all along, and if he did get them, he tried to wholly ignore them.

But it was difficult. Edward always appreciated beauty, and he couldn't deny that Tanya was gorgeous. He studied her now, admiring her shiny curls and delicious-looking peach lips while she discussed the Voltouri and their increasingly annoying security with Rosalie. He shook his head. _What was he even thinking? Was he actually falling for Tanya's charms?_

Tanya sneaked a peek back to Edward while chatting with Alice. He was looking straight at her, and it made Tanya's spine tingle with excitement. _He was finally noticing her!_ She sat a bit straighter and flicked her curls behind her ears, all the while watching Edward's reaction with the corner of her eyes.

"Is there any one you have met, Edward?" Carmen's tone was soft and affectionate as she addressed Edward, who pulled himself out of his reverie. It was common knowledge to the Denalis that Edward was the only one out of the Cullens who didn't have a mate.

"No, Carmen." Edward's tone was gentle and almost rebuking. Carmen smiled apologetically.

"Do let me know when you find the one for you, will you not?" Edward found it impossible to even get irritated over Carmen's gentle motherly tone. He sighed in resignation.

Emmett replied in place of his little brother. "No worries, Carmen," he said easily, smirking. "You will be the first to know." Edward widened his eyes and made threatening signs to Emmett, who merely chortled.

Rosalie looked satisfied. _He finally gets what he deserved,_ she was thinking. Edward sighed, giving up on trying getting along with Rosalie altogether. What improvement was a week or two going to make when three-fourths of a whole _century _hadn't been enough?

"Kate, dear, do show Edward around our house. It is his first time here, is it not?" Eleazar broke into his thoughts.

Before Kate had the time to comprehend Eleazar's statement, Tanya was on her feet.

"Oh no, you continue your discussion with Esme," she said sweetly, smiling down at both Kate and Esme who had been conversing about the interior decoration of the house - Esme's favourite topic of discussion.

Kate eyed her sister warily. She knew what Tanya wanted, and she also knew what Tanya did to ensure that she _got_ what she wanted. She would rather show Edward the house herself - but that would mean risking a lot with Tanya, something which she was not very eager to do.

Edward, for his part detected the carefulness with which Kate handled Tanya. _There's a lot more to her that I imagined,_ he mused. And suddenly, Tanya's hands were on his. "Coming?" she literally sang. He whipped his head around, looking into her eyes, the smooth curve of her forehead, the soft swell of her cheeks and her inviting lips.

"Yes."

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He had to give it to her - Tanya was a good host. She made sure he had seen every room there was in the house. Unlike the Cullens, the Denali clan had no kitchen - for they inhabited a remote place and the only visitors they had to entertain were vampires themselves.

All the bedrooms were on the first floor. Carmen and Eleazar's bedroom was a large one, furnished in all mahogany and teak. A large bed dominated the room, a pale pink bedspread covering it. The drapery of the room was a darker rose tinge - the colour and shade of a red rose. Twin teak cupboards flanked either side of the wall opposing the bed, and Edward imagined they contained their clothes.

Kate's and Irina's rooms were large and airy. Floor-to-ceiling windows made up an entire wall, with no blinds or curtains to veil the beautiful winter scenery. And that is where the similarity ended..

Kate's room was furnished with numerous shelves housing an enormous number of books on various subjects, and the entire room was wallpapered with a bright turquoise and yellow wallpaper bearing some abstract design. There was no bed, he noted - only a long, L-shaped white futon strategically placed close to a corner of the room such that it dominated a whole wall.

Contrary to her sister's, Irina had a rather unconventional theme going on in her room - the walls were painted a shade of deep red and as in Carmen's room, a bed dominated the scene. It had a silvery-black wrought-iron frame, a cream bedspread and fluffy cream, red and gold comforter. _Rather regal for a vampire who never sleeps and would never be able to do so all her life._ She had a study at one end of the room, a sleek black thing upon which a laptop was placed, also lack. Edward had begun to think that Irina had quite a fascination with that colour

Tanya was watching not her sister's room, whose decor she knew so well, but Edward's face as he drank in the look of the room.

"You like it, don't you?" she asked, stepping close to him. Her voice had taken on a husky edge. It was half question, half a sentence. She didn't give him a chance to reply. "Would you like to see _my_ room now?" Her voice was seductively inviting now, and as she looked into his eyes, Edward found himself attracted like a magnet to the scorching pools of gold that held his gaze. "Well?" She was waiting for an answer.

Edward nodded mutely. He was not in control of his sense now, and despite the fact that he had hunted and fed hungrily and satisfyingly only yesterday, his throat suddenly ached with a dull burn. Tanya touched his hand and something stirred with him. Tanya smiled and stretched like a satisfied cat after her meal.

"Here we are." And she led him into the room, closing the door with a soft click. And Edward stared.

Her room was totally different from her sisters' rooms. Firstly, it was _huge_ - larger that both Irina's and Kate's. Instead, it seemed to be the same size as the room Carmen and Eleazar shared. Framed paintings hung by the dozen on her wall, arranged artistically in different patterns. In one far end of the room, there stood an easel next to a little side-table cum draw atop which a cup holding large number of paintbrushes stood.

Edward did not appear to notice the painting that was Tanya's current project, much to her disappointment. But she did not say anything about it. She let him walk away from her and admire the many paintings that were the fruits of her hard work. He chucked as he pointed to one particular painting of an angel-like figure knelt down in prayer, hands clasped, expression yearning.

"When you painted this, did you in any way feel connected to her?"

Tanya nodded, looking sheepish. "I painted it at a time in life when I felt I had lost everything that meant anything to me, and nothing short of a prayer returned my life back to me. And still, I haven't got everything I have ever wanted," she added, daring to give him a look that innocently called out for protection.

Edward had lost a part of himself in her charm. He looked at her with a look that Tanya had been waiting for years on end, looking like the answer to her prayers. There he stood wearing a black, full arm soft woollen shirt above a pair of blue jeans that were faded just the right amount - naturally, not in an acid wash.

Slowly, she walked towards him, holding his gaze to hers all the while. She raised a hand and slowly trailed one fingertip down his smooth, cold cheek till his throat, closing her eyes and sighing with open bliss.

He took one long look at her, and gently cupped his hands around her face. She smiled into his eyes and slowly placed her lips over his, the kiss turning from sweet and gentle to intense and passionate within a matter of a few minutes. Tanya wrapped her hands around Edward's waist, hugging him like she would never let go. "Oh Edward," she breathed.

Something clicked in Edward's head. In a fraction of a second, he had a ten feet gap separating himself from Tanya, who looked like she had been slapped in the face. Nothing felt right - it was all wrong, and he tried to control the rage that bubbled up inside him.

"What happened, Edward? What went wrong?"

"Nothing was ever right, Tanya. Leave me alone." Hurt flooded Tanya's face.

"Why, Edward? Why?" A frustrated edge crept to her voice.

"Because I do not love you in any way, and I never will."

And while Tanya stood agape, watching his retreating form, he threw open the doors to her room and rejoined his family, still waiting if and when he found _his _soul mate - not someone who threw herself upon him, not even waiting to find out if he felt the same way.

And he was ready to wait.

It was totally worth it.

Anything was worth for love - true, everlasting love that made even the worst days of winter seem warmed by a shining sun.

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**A/N: Ok, so I'm clarifying a few things here:**

**1 - It is mentioned in the books that Tanya had once played out for Edward - somehow it caught my interest and I found myself doing a piece on just what might have happened!**

**2 - This fic is set way before Bella had arrived at Forks and so yes, Edward and Bella had no idea whatsoever of each other's existence and would not get to know each other for quite a few years to come by.**

**3 - This is only my second Twilight fic, so I request all of you to please forgive me in case of errors and leave reviews to tell me where I need to improve and how you would like me to write! All I want to do is improve as an author, which can be done only with your help. **

**Thanks so much for reading. Till the next time,**

**Cheers!  
-Eternally Seventeen**


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